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Nicky Lee, Jolin Tsai win Mandarin pop music awards
2007-06-17
Korean American singer Nicky Lee and Taiwanese pop diva Jolin Tsai took home top honours Saturday at Taiwan's Golden Melody Awards, dubbed the Chinese-language Grammys. Lee, who has released records in his native South Korea, collected the Best Male Singer award with his R and B album "I'm Your Baby." "I want to thank my parents, my company and my producer ... I will work even harder from now on," said an emotional Lee. The category saw the most diverse entries with Lee vying with Taiwan's David Tao and Kenji Wu, Singapore's Wayne Lam, and Malaysia's Gary Chaw. Taiwanese pop singer Jolin Tsai collected the Best Female Singer prize for her album "Dancing Diva," a fusion of hip hop, reggae, rock and roll, ballads and Middle Eastern music. She beat big-name rivals such as fellow Taiwanese pop diva A-Mei and veteran Hong Kong songstress Sandy Lam. "I want to thank those who think it's impossible for me to make it because they keep me going forward ... I also want to thank my fans who have supported me all the way," said Tsai, who kicked off the ceremony with a fiery dance number from her album. Alternative singer MC Hot Dog was the dark horse of the evening, winning Best Album of the Year. The Best Song of the Year went to producer-singer-songwriter David Tao's ballad "You Are Marrying Me Today," a duet he performed with Jolin Tsai. Taiwan's R and B prince Jay Chou, although he missed out in the Best Male Singer nominations, won the first-ever Best Single Producer for his hit Rap song "Huo Yuan Chia." Wu Ching-feng, lead singer of Sodagreen, beat high-profile rivals David Tao and Kenji Wu, to collect the Best Composer prize. Sodagreen also beat six bands to take home the Best Band award for their second album "Microcosmos." Therapist-turned-singer Europa Huang defeated ALin, Evan Yo and China's Xian Zi to win the Newcomer award for his debut album "Over the Way." The night's biggest surprise, however, came when ethnic Hakka singer Lin Sheng-xiang refused the Best Hakka Singer and Best Hakka Album prizes. "I think the Golden Melody awards should be categorised by music types rather than language types ... therefore my production team doesn't attend the ceremony and I decline to take the awards," he told the shocked crowd. Musicians from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia competed in over 20 categories at the 18th Golden Melody Awards.
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